THE 'credit crunch' is beginning to have a major impact on families everywhere.

But the good news is that you don't need to brake the bank to have a great time this half-term.

Birmingham's 'Famous Five' museums are a great place to start. They consistently offer some of the West Midlands' best days out - and are all free (with charges for some special exhibitions).

Because Aston Hall is closed for renovation, the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (tel 0121 303 2834; www.bmag.org.uk) is the fifth member of our Famous Five for now... a bit like Timothy the dog in the Enid Blyton adventures.

Running at the BM&AG, Chamberlain Square, from tomorrow until August 31 is a new exhibition called Myths and Monsters: Unravelling the Truth. Admission is families (2+3) £12, adults £4, conc £2.50.

It's billed as an "an entertaining, educational and dramatic mix of animatronic mythical creatures and some of the Natural History Muse-um's own specimens and replicas".

The rest of the quality street gang are:

* Soho House - Soho Avenue, Soho Road, Handsworth, Birmingham B18 5LB. Tel 0121 554 9122. It celebrates the famous partnership of James Watt and industrialist Matthew Boulton with an event called 'Steam Me up Watty' on Bank Holiday Monday.